Brent oil slumped Thursday to a new four-year low on expectations that OPEC will unlikely to cut production levels to counter the global supply glut, traders said.

At about 0820 GMT, London's Brent crude for delivery in December dived to $79.55 per barrel, hitting a low point last witnessed in late September 2010.

Gold consumption fell slightly in the third quarter as sliding jewelry demand in China offset strong growth in India, sector data showed on Thursday.

Overall demand dropped by 2.0 percent in the three months ending September 30 to 929.3 tonnes compared with the third quarter in 2013, the World Gold Council said.

Australia said corporate tax breaks amounted to theft on Thursday, throwing a spotlight on the issue ahead of European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker's arrival in the country for the G20 summit.

Juncker, who took office on November 1, is under intense pressure over generous tax concessions offered to top global companies when he was prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013.

Dow Chemical has decided to reduce its stake in two multi-billion dollar petrochemicals joint ventures with Kuwait, the U.S. firm and its Kuwaiti partner said on Thursday.

"Dow will reconfigure and reduce its equity base in the MEGlobal and Greater Equate joint ventures," with Kuwait's state-owned Petrochemicals Industries Co. (PIC), the U.S. firm said in a statement on its website.

Inflation in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, remained at the low level of 0.8 percent for the fourth month in a row in October, final data showed on Thursday.

Confirming an earlier flash estimate, the federal statistics office Destatis calculated that German inflation stood at just 0.8 percent year-on-year last month, unchanged since July.

Beirut, November 12, 2014 - Chocol’art, a creative children’s charity initiative, has teamed up with the Lebanese Autism Society, in a grand-scale event in Beirut, themed ‘80’s Revival’. Hundreds of exhibitors came together in BIEL, to raise awareness on the topic of autism amongst children, and showcase their creativity to a celebrated crowd.

For the last 5 years, Chocol’art has aimed to create a platform for emerging creative talent to showcase their work, and in return support a good cause. One of the charity initiative’s main goals is to challenge the creative minds of all those that participate with the yearly themed events.Since its founding, Chocol’art, has positioned itself as a broad platform for the creation of visual, edible, and experiential art, all within the theme and context of chocolate, charity, creativity and children.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Wednesday said leaders of the world's most powerful economies should use this weekend's G20 summit to close corporate tax loopholes that cost countries billions of dollars in revenue.

Abbott, the Group of 20 host, said there was a "collective self interest" in member nations preventing companies from shifting profits from one country to another in order to minimize their tax bills.

South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries said it had signed Wednesday a $1.94 billion deal to build offshore oil and gas processing platforms in the United Arab Emirates.

Under the deal with Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Co. -- a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.-- the world's top shipbuilder will build four giant platforms and underwater power cables as part of a new offshore oil and gas production complex.

Global regulators announced Wednesday $3.2 billion (2.5 billion euros) in fines against five major US and European banks for attempting to manipulate foreign exchange markets.

The hefty fines centered on London, the world's biggest hub for the $5.3-trillion-per-day forex market, and the British government hailed a move to "clean up corruption" in the City.

Britain will impose curbs on so-called "payday lending" firms from January after a boom in the short-term loans industry characterized by "bad behavior", the Financial Conduct Authority regulator said on Tuesday.

The government body said in a report that default fees would be capped at £15 (19 euros, $24) and there would be a limit of 0.8 percent per day on interest on unpaid balances.